Refrigerator car hatch closure



pll 22 1941 J. s. LUNDVALL 2,239,269

REFRIGERATOR CAR HATCH CLOSURE Filed March 16, 1939 yhatented Apr. 22,194,1

azzazss REFRIGERATOR CAR HATCH CLOSUEE John s. Lnnauu, chime, m, mim: toUnion Asbestos Rubber Company, Chicago. lll., a corporation of IllinoisApplication March 16, 1939, Serial No. 262,113

(c1. zc-c s) zclims.

'I'he invention .relates to hatch closures and more particularly tohatch closures for refrigerator cars wherein a resilient gasket is usedas a sealing means.

One object of the invention is to provide a combined hatch cover andgasket which will function as a unit, thereby reducing the number ofparts.

Another object is to provide a resilient gasket having a stiifeningmember associatedv there-L,

, with, whereby the gasket will lie at against its Another object is theprovision of a resilient' gasket which may be securedy toits mounting bymeans of a single row'of fasteners, such as screws or nails, whereby thespace required for mounting the gasket may be no more or slightly morethan the width of the gasket member.

Another object is to provide a resilient gasket which may be fabricatedseparately and secured to its mounting member without adjusting or'fitting the gasket."

Another object is the provision of a gasket which is secured to theclosure in a manner to protect the gasket from damage or injury, as bythe dropping of ice blocks or other objects upon gasket, by means ofprotection members at each side of the mounted gasket.

'Another object is the provision of a gasket winelsimay be made ofresilient material. such as sponge rubberfi'vth a covering of fabric orother suitable material to preventtlie material from adhering to themember or members between which gasket is compressed.

Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawing shows a,

vertical section through the hatch, hatch closure and gasket, with theclosureshown in closed and locked position. with the gasket undercompression.

Fig. 2 shows a fragmentary plan view of locking means illustrated inFig. 1.

Fig. A3 shows a plan view of the gasket illustrated in Fig. 1, partlybroken at one corner to show the relative positions of the componentparts of the gasket.

Fig. 4 shows an enlarged cross-sectional view of the gasket, taken online 4-4 ot Fig. 3, while Fig. 5 shows an enlarged cross-sectional viewof a modication of the' gasket.

To illustrate my invention I have shown in Fig. 1 a hatch frame I, ahatch cover2, cover hinge means 3, cover securing and locking arm I,locking member 5, locking pin B and'gasket 1. secured in position onhatch cover. The hatch frame l may comprise a substantially rectangularhopper-like frame of wood construction and may have a hopper-like metalframey or .lining l embracing frame I at each side of the hatchvframe.The metal frame or lining l may comprise side walls 9 embracing the sidewalls vof hatch frame I provided with outwardly extending substan tiallyhorizontal wall .portions I0 and adownwardly wall portion II, spacedoutwardly from K and substantially parallel to Vwall 9. terminating in alaterally extending iiange member I2 to provide securing means for frame8 on car structure I3. Metal frame 8 maybe made of sheet metal or maybeoi cast construction. Whilev I have shown a metal hatch lining 8overlying wooden hatch frame I it is to be understood that my inventionwill function whether this metal lining is used or not, and the hatchframe may be of wood construction only or it may be constructed of metalonly, but wheremetal is used for the frame it is preferable that wood orother suitable non-conductor of heat be used to insulate the metal. l

I show, in Fig. 1, a hatch cover 2 which may comprise a metal box-likemember Il pivotally mounted adjacent a side of the hatchway by means ofhinges I5 which may be mounted on hatch frame I or to an adjacentportion of car structure.` Member I4 may be provided with dependingmarginal walls I6 and may be provided Secured thereto by means of boltsI8 or other suitable'fastening means. said member Il providinginsulating means :for member Il and mounting means for gasket 'I.l"viemllel,Ilma-Y be provided with a depending insulating mmber I9 whichmay comprise a wall portion 20 in parallel, spaced apart, underlyingrelation to member I'I cooperatively secured to member Il by means of aframe member 2| intermediate members I1 and 20 providing a spaceintermebeing coincident with outer margin of diate members i1 and 20,and between opposite members 2|--2I, which space is preferably providedwith suitable insulating material. Depending insulating member I9preferably extends below member l1 and wall portion lll of metallinterminate below member H, providing a protec tion member for' gasket1 along its outer mar-v ginal portion.

Cover locking arm 4 comprises an inverted U- shaped bar pivotallymounted adjacent one of its ends in a mounting secured to car structureI3, adjacente. side of hatchframe i, and adapted for swinging movementto a position substantially parallel to the plane of and in adjacent,overlying relationship with cover I4, and provided intermediate its endswith an abutment 22, adapted toengage cover 2 adjacent its free mar'-ginal portion 24 toforce the cover tightly closed, with gasket'under.compression. A locking member 5 may be2/secured .to cover 2 at a pointsubstantially". coincident with the free end 25 of locking` arm' 4,Whensaid locking arm 4 is in cover 'locking position,l and may comprisea bracket 'member Vhaving spacedapart, upstandimg ,apertur'ed lugs 23,between which the end 25 of locking arm 4 may be positioned and lockedin'cove'rlockingposition by means of a locking pin '6, which maybevinse'rt'ed through the apertures inA lugs 23, inoverlying, adjacentrelation to end I25rof locking arm 4. 'Locking pin '6 may be providedadjacent Yone of its ends with an enlarged'` portion- '26 to limit its'longitudinal movementv inone direction and may be provided atitsoppsiteend with an; aperture 21, for the insertion of theconventional car seal strap, to

preventunauthorized use of the locking means.

While I have shown the locking arm mounted upon a' portion ofthe carstructure and have shownthe locking means for the vlocking arm mountedupon the cover, this order may be reversed without in any manneraiiecting the efficiency of my invention and While I have shown -anddescribed one form of locking member 5 any of the conventional lockingmeans may be used to secure the lockingl arm 4 in closed position. Whereabutment 22 engages cover 2 a suitable chafe plate or Wear plate may besecured to cover to prevent Wear at this point and the plate may beremovably secured to cover to provide means for the use of plates ofvarious thicknesses to regulate the amount of compression of the gasket.

Gasket f7, as shown in Figures 3 V4and 4, comprises a stiiening frame 28of relatively thin material, a sponge-rubber member 23 superimposed vor'a lsuitablecement or other adhesive agent.

In Fig. `3, I show frame 28 as comprising four side members each memberhaving its end portions in abutting relationship with adjacent members.These members may be cooperatively `secured at their abutting portionsby Welding or other suitable means.

Frame 28 may be made of unitary construction, as of cast metal or bybianking out of the inner portion of a sheet of metal but I prefer touse a frame of built-up construction, as shown in Fig. 3, due to itseconomy. France 28 may be made of any suitable material having thequalities of rigidity with minimum thickness such as sheet metal, breboard, Bakelite or aluminum but I prefer to use sheet metal due to itsrelatively low cost, rigidity, thinness and durability.

Member. 29fmay be made of felt, rubber or any suitable resilientmaterial, but i prefer touse sponge-rubber owing to its compressibilityover a given area by the use of less compressive force than would berequired to compress other resilient-materials of greater density overrthe same area, and because of the inherent quality of sponge-rubber toreturn to its original shape upon removal of compressing member.

The end portions of members 28, 28 and-3| may be mitered adjacent theirpoints of convergence-.with adjacent members 28, 29 and 3l respectively.Covering 3l may be of fabric, such as duck, canvas, woven asbestos orany suitable material and'I preferably use a fabric which has upon frame28, the outer margin of member 2 Y, 1-

been impregnated with a water-proofing compound in order .to protect theresilient member 28 from light, moisture and corrosive elements. Member29 may' be cooperatively secured to member 28` without the use of afabric covering or may be secured directly to its carrying memberwithout stifening member 28, but in view of experience, I prefer to usea fabric covering to protect member 29 from the velements and to preventsame from damage as by the member 29 adhering to the compressing member,as Wall portion I0 of frame 8.

Gasket l shown in Figures 3 and 4 may be secured to its mounting memberby means of a single row of screws, nails or other suitable fastenersapplied through marginal securing portion 38 of gasket 1 and stiffeningmember 28 Will hold the opposite or outer marginal portion of gasket 1in substantially abutting relationship wit d r jacent portion ofmounting thereby effecting an econo n. thega a. c modification of gasketshown in Fig. 5 may be applied to its carrying member within a smallermounting space than that required to mount gasket 1. Gasket shown inFig. 5 comprises a frame member 32 which may be of relatively thin metalor other rigid material, a resilient member 33 of substantially the samewidth as member 32 and a fabric covering 34 which substantially enclosesassociated members 32 and 33. Member 33 may be in parallel, abuttingmember 32' and may be corelationship with operatively secured thereto bya suitable adhesive agent. The covering 34 may entirely encloseassociated members 32' and 33 or may enclose the outer surface area ofmember 33 with the marginal portions of covering 34 in-abutting,overlapping relationship with outer surface of marginal portions ofmember 32', the covering 34 being secured to associated members 32 and33 by means of a suitable adhesive agent. Member 32' may have alongitudinally extending row or series of apertures therein and theparallel, spaced apart portion of covering 34 may also have alongitudinally extending row of apertures 35 therein in register withthe apertures-in member 32. Gasket structure shown in Fig. 5 may bemounted on its mounting member by means of a series of screws or otherfastening means which are driven through member 33 in alignment withregisteringapertures 35 in covering 34 and member 32', by perforatingmember 33 as indicated at 36. After the fastening means are driven homethe aperture 35 may be sealed as by applying rubber cement, asphalt, 'orother sealing compound which will adhere to member 33 and the peripheraledge portion of aperture 35.

The advantages of the covering for the rubber` gasket will be apparentto those familiar with the 'use of rubber and it will be seen that saidcovering protects the rubber from light, heat and elements which have adeteriorating effect on rubf ber, as well as to protect the rubber frombeing torn and otherwise damaged, as by gasket adhering to thecompressing member when kept under compression for extended periods, inwhich case the rubber may be torn in opening the cover. Uncovered rubbermembers of so-called solid rubber become brittle and lose theirresiliency.

The sti'ifening member which I secure to my resilient gasket member isadapted to hold the gasket in abutting relationship with its mount- ,f

ing member by the use of a single row' of fasteners Cil `my invention,but the same is merely illustrative and I contemplate -all changes andmodications that come within the scope of the claims yappended hereto.

its margins adhesively secured to said surface;

and means for securing said weatherstrip in fiatwise engagement wit,` amounting comprising a plurality of apertures in said rst named stripintermediate said edge and said rubber adapted to receive fasteningmembers having holding engagement with said mounting whereby said firstnamed strip Will be affixed in flatwise relatively n non-flexingengagement with said mounting.

applied longitudinally of said stiffeni/ng member,

whereas to secure a flexible gasket to its mounting member would requirea row of fasteners along each margin of the gasket if the gasket were tobe secured in the essential fiatwise position on mounting member,requiring a larger mounting area.

I have herein shown and described what I now consider the preferredmanner of carrying out 2. A weatherstrip comprising a substantially natstrip of relatively rigid material, a substantially fiat strip ofresilient rubber in flatwise abutting engagement with and having one ofits longitudinal margins inwardly spaced from the adjacent longitudinaledge of said rst named strip, and means for securing saidirubberinfiatwise engagement with said first named strip comprising a exiblesheathing embracing the outer surface of the abutting strips and havingits margins adhesively secured to said surface; and means for mountingsaid weatherstrip in flatwise engagementwith a mounting comprising aplurality of apertures in said rst named strip intermediate said edgeand said rubber adapted to receive fastening members having holdingengagement with said mounting whereby said flrst named strip will beaii'lxed in at- Wise relatively non-flexing engagement with saidmounting, said rubber being adapted to be compressed by a force appliedin a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of said rubberand to substantially the entire area of one of the flat sides of saidrubber.

JOHN s. LUNDVALL.

